In Beijing, the Fu Lian Cheng (also known as Xi Lian Cheng) opera school became a major training pipeline for jingju (Peking/Beijing opera). Its long-running program helped standardize skills and passed down stage traditions to many future stars. This professional training base set the stage for major repertoire and style changes in the 20th century.
During the 1910s–1920s, leading performers—especially Mei Lanfang—helped shift Peking opera toward a broader performance style that emphasized acting and dance alongside singing. These changes were part of a wider push to modernize stage aesthetics and respond to new audiences and cultural influences. Mei’s approach became a reference point for later debates about “reform” versus “tradition.”
Mei Lanfang’s 1930 U.S. tour introduced many American theatergoers to Peking opera and helped make the art form part of international discussions about modern theater. The tour demonstrated how a traditional Chinese repertory could be presented to foreign audiences through careful selection, staging, and explanation. It also strengthened the idea that jingju could represent Chinese culture on global stages.
In March 1935, Mei Lanfang and his troupe performed in Moscow, drawing intense interest from Soviet and European theater circles. Responses to his stylized stage conventions fed broader arguments about realism, “form,” and how theater should represent life. The tour became a high-profile example of cultural exchange tied to politics and aesthetics.
After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the government issued formal instructions to guide xiqu (Chinese music-drama, including Peking opera) reform work. The policy treated opera as an important tool for public education, while calling for changes to repertories and organization to fit new political and social goals. This created an official framework that later reshaped what could be staged and how troupes were managed.
A state-backed national ensemble—later known as the China National Peking Opera Company—was founded in Beijing, with Mei Lanfang as its first president. As a flagship troupe under government supervision, it became a key institution for preserving classic repertory while also developing new works. Its creation linked jingju more directly to national cultural policy and large-scale repertory planning.
In the early 1960s, new politically themed stage works began to be revised and promoted as examples for other troupes. These projects used Peking opera techniques but aimed to depict modern revolutionary stories and contemporary social roles. The shift prepared the ground for a much tighter, centrally controlled repertoire during the Cultural Revolution.
From 1966 to 1976, traditional repertories were largely suppressed and performance life was reorganized around a small set of officially approved “model works” (yangbanxi). These productions used Peking opera and related forms to present revolutionary narratives and idealized hero figures aligned with Party ideology. The period narrowed repertory choices sharply and altered music, staging, and costume conventions for mass political messaging.
In 1976, the arrest of the “Gang of Four” marked a political turning point after Mao Zedong’s death. For performing arts, it helped end the strict Cultural Revolution cultural line that had limited repertory. This shift made it possible for troupes and audiences to return to a broader range of traditional and historical Peking opera works.
In 1979, a major Beijing-based company (now commonly known in English as the Jingju Theater Company of Beijing) was established, building on earlier local troupe structures. It became a large, influential institution for staging both classic repertory and newer works, and for training and promoting performers. The company’s growth reflected the broader reopening of cultural life after the Cultural Revolution.
By the 1980s, Peking opera performance expanded again to include traditional plays, newly written historical dramas, and contemporary works. This restoration did not simply “go back” to the past; it also continued debates about modernization, training, and audience tastes under new economic and media conditions. The result was a more diverse repertory landscape than during the Cultural Revolution.
UNESCO added Peking opera to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010. The inscription highlighted jingju’s distinctive blend of singing, speaking, acting, and martial arts, and recognized its importance as a widely known cultural tradition centered on Beijing (and also practiced in other cities). International recognition strengthened preservation efforts and raised global visibility for the art form.
Peking (Beijing) Opera: Repertoires and 20th‑Century Reforms (1900–present)